Best Romance Books
Curated by Skriuwer Editors · Updated April 2026 · Affiliate links
Romance readers finish more books than anyone else, so their reviews mean more. These are the romance novels with the strongest reader records, from this year's obsessions to the classics that built the genre.
Romance is the best-selling fiction genre in the world, and it is not close. The readers who love it read more books per year than any other audience, which means the review counts on this page dwarf every other list on this site. When a romance novel holds a 4.5 average over a quarter of a million reviews, that is not marketing. That is hundreds of thousands of people who finished the book and came back to say so.
This list ranks the romance novels readers actually return to: the contemporary hits that dominated the last five years, the enemies-to-lovers and fake-dating setups that define the modern genre, and the classics that invented its vocabulary two centuries ago. Jane Austen was writing banter-driven slow burn before the terms existed.
One honest note on how this list works: placement is earned from reader reviews, never bought. Authors cannot pay their way on. When a book from our own reader programme earns a slot, the entry says so and names the review basis, so you always know why a book ranks where it does.
Quick comparison, top 5
The ranked list
- 1
Colleen Hoover
(410,226 reviews)It Ends with Us: A Novel by Colleen Hoover.
Why it ranks here: Over 400,000 reader reviews at a 4.7 average make this the most-reviewed romance of its generation, and the subject matter (breaking a cycle of abuse) gives it unusual weight.
Buy on Amazon → - 2
Taylor Jenkins Reid
(293,109 reviews)The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: A Novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
Why it ranks here: Reid's Hollywood epic keeps a 4.6 average across nearly 300,000 reviews; readers consistently call the final reveal one of the best-earned twists in the genre.
Buy on Amazon → - 3
Sally Rooney
(136,953 reviews)Normal People: A Novel: A Hulu Original Series by Sally Rooney.
Buy on Amazon → - 4
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Diana Gabaldon
(105,956 reviews)Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.
Why it ranks here: Gabaldon's time-travel romance has carried a 4.6 average over 100,000+ reviews for three decades, the rare series opener that readers still finish at 850 pages.
Buy on Amazon → - 7
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Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
Why it ranks here: Two hundred years on, still the template every enemies-to-lovers plot follows. The banter holds up against anything published this decade.
Buy on Amazon →
Frequently asked questions
What are the best romance books?
Ranked by reader reviews, the top romance books right now are It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry. All three hold averages above 4.2 stars across six-figure review counts, which is the strongest reader signal in any fiction genre.
What is the best romance book for someone new to the genre?
Beach Read by Emily Henry is the most common recommendation for newcomers: two writers with opposite styles swap genres for a summer, and the book balances wit, warmth, and real emotional weight without leaning on genre conventions you do not know yet. If you prefer historical settings, Outlander by Diana Gabaldon adds time travel and Scottish history to the romance spine.
What are the best enemies-to-lovers romance books?
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood is the defining recent example, set among PhD students and built on a fake-dating premise that turns real. Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston runs the same energy between the American First Son and a British prince. Pride and Prejudice remains the template: Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy spent two hundred years proving the formula works.
Are romance classics like Jane Austen still worth reading?
Yes, and readers agree: Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre both hold averages above 4.5 stars from thousands of modern reviews. The pacing is slower than contemporary romance, and the courtship rules are period-specific, but the character dynamics that power today's bestsellers, banter, pride, misjudgment, slow-burning attraction, were perfected in these books.
Which romance books have the saddest endings?
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes and The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger are the two famous tearjerkers on this list. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks spans a whole lifetime of love and loss. Readers rate all three above 4.4 stars, so the heartbreak clearly does not hurt the recommendation rate. Bring tissues anyway.
Can I read these romance books on Kindle?
Yes. Every book on this page links to Amazon, where Kindle editions typically run between 1.99 and 9.99 dollars, and Kindle Unlimited includes a large share of the contemporary titles. Click any cover to check the current price in your local store.
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